


Opening His Closet

by ElfGrove



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cutesy, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Post-season 7, Sharing Clothes, shameless plot contrivances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 08:36:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16489265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElfGrove/pseuds/ElfGrove
Summary: Just a cute short fic of Shiro and Keith making googoo eyes at each other while Shiro loans Keith some clothes.





	Opening His Closet

"Hey."

Keith looked up to where Shiro stood in the open doorway, shoulder propped against the door jamb and a familiar indulgent smile curling the corners of his mouth.

"Hey."

"I came over to see how you were doing post hospital release, but I see the answer is the closet has personally insulted you."

Keith rose to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck and nudging a haphazard pile of shirts with one foot to widen the path to the door, "I was, uhhh, trying to find something to wear."

Shiro carefully picked his way through the mess to stand next to Keith, surveying the chaos, "Not having much luck?"

Keith scowled, gesturing at himself in frustration, "I'm still in the loaner cadet uniform."

The jacket was thrown across his bed, but he still wore the standard issue white undershirt and uniform pants, which were too short for his legs, riding up to expose too much ankle even standing straight up.

Shiro leaned over to pick up a discarded shirt experimentally, turning it over to display the faded NASA logo, a fake vintage shirt of the long defunct space exploration agency, "I thought you liked this shirt."

_He loved that shirt. Shiro had given him that shirt._

"It's not about like, I  ** _can't_** wear it." Keith took the shirt from him gingerly, holding it up for comparison, "I'm at least two sizes too big for any of my old clothes."

Shiro blinked owlishly at him for a long moment before bringing his hand up to cover his nose and mouth, looking around the mass of tossed clothes more thoughtfully. "Right, the two years," his voice trailed off uncomfortably and his cheeks reddened slightly as they returned to Keith. "You grew."

"Yeah," Keith ground out, hearing the snark in his own tone. "The only things I have that fit are the Paladin armor, my Blades uniforms, and the Garrison loaner. Nothing else."

Shiro raised an eyebrow, smirk playing across his features, "And the Altean pajamas."

"And the hospital clothes," Keith rolled his eyes in annoyance. _Why would he even bring up things only he and the wolf have seen me in? The Altean pajamas, geeze._ "Stuff I can't wear in public. Not helping, Shiro."

"Do you have any more of your Dad's clothes? They fit me, so they should--"

Keith shook his head, "They got rid of all of that when I was a kid. I had his old uniform stored, but that was it."

Shiro looked chastised, "Sorry."

"Don't," Keith stepped closer, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I never said I regretted giving that to you. It's just not an option now."

"Right," Shiro's eyes roamed over him, not moving to break the contact, but not getting any closer either. Keith could feel electricity pulse through his veins, knowing it was useless energy that would eventually ground out as the moment passed, connections never being made.

It was Shiro who broke the moment, _of course it was._ He turned away, letting Keith's hand fall from his shoulder and turning his back to Keith as he picked up another shirt. Keith shook his head, shoving down the disappointment that he should be long over by now, "Really, Shiro. None of them fit. I've been through the entire closet already."

"Sorry I missed that." 

Shiro mumbled the phrase so quietly Keith almost didn't hear it. He froze, sure his poor brain was misinterpreting but unable to stop. His voice was practically a squeak, "What?"

Shiro stiffened, then straightened up, still not looking at Keith, "Sorry I wasn't here to help you go through all this. How about we sort through it later, pack the sentimental pieces, and sell or donate the rest?"

Keith let his shoulders relax, accepting the small pit that settled into his stomach with a familiar weight, "Sure, but I can handle it myself, no need to waste your free time for that. I'm sure they already need you back at the base."

Shiro turned to him then, eyebrows arched in confusion, "I don't have anywhere to be today, except with you. I thought I'd help you settle in now that you've recovered."

"But you said later..."

"Because you need new clothes first," Shiro's eyes crinkled at the corners as his smile returned. "Priorities, Paladin. Come on."

Keith liked the idea of spending a full day with Shiro, although he was less thrilled with the idea of it being spent shopping for clothes-- _with money he didn't have. Right._ "Not really arguing, but Paladin of Voltron and Garrison Drop Out aren't exactly paying gigs. I can't just go buy new clothes right now."

Shiro scowled at that, "I thought when the Garrison gave all of you a formal commission--"

"They did," Keith put his hands up to defuse Shiro's anger before he stormed away and  into Iverson's office. _It wasn't like anyone had owed him anything, that the Garrison had offered the Paladins official ranks and regular paychecks was an unexpected kindness, at least in his eyes. The Holts disagreed. **Vehemently.**_ "But the paperwork and stuff takes time, and Iverson kind of has his plate full with everything. It's coming."

"I'm sorry. I should have realized..."

"Realized what?" Keith shrugged, turning away to sit on the edge of his bed next to the discarded cadet uniform jacket. "I'm the odd man out is all. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge are staying with thier families. You, Allura, and Coran are busy with well, everything. I'm here. If I hadn't had the, err, growth spurt, there wouldn't even be a problem. It's not as if I'm homeless or don't have food or any clothes at all. I'll just have to stay in uniforms for a bit longer."

Shiro moved to stand in front of him, shadow casting over Keith, "I didn't realize you didn't have any support. I should have."

"Hey," Keith felt defensive at that. Both of his newly reunited family and Shiro's own guilt he could see gnawing in his expression. "Mom and Kolivan were here until recently. Clothes, just, didn't come up."

Shiro's frown deepened.

"You said you had the day for me," Keith offered hopefully. "Let's figure out something else to do."

Shiro sighed, looking up at the ceiling as if searching for a solution. Keith wished he'd just drop it. "What if I return the favor?"

 _Uh. Return? Favor? What. What favor?_ He felt articulate,"Huh?"

"The clothes," Shiro smiled warmly back at him again.

"You're not buying me clothes. I'm going to have my own money."

Shiro huffed, clearly dissatisfied, but hardly hesitated before countering, "I figured that. But I  ** _do_** have a closet full of clothes that had been put in storage for the Kerberos mission. Some of them are a little tight on me now, and still probably a little big for you, but it should work until you can buy things you like better."

"Oh."  _Wearing Shiro's clothes. That would be... Difficult to argue against. More than that, it would be nice to have some regular clothes that came anywhere close to fitting._ He shifted, pushing down at the too short hem of the borrowed Garrison uniform pants with the heel of his foot.

"Come on," Shiro offered him a hand, pulling him to his feet the moment he accepted it. "Let's see if I have anything you can stand to wear."

* * *

Keith raised both arms out to his side and glared at Shiro helplessly, "You have  ** _got_** to be joking."

It was kind of worth it for how Shiro's entire face flushed bright crimson and he bit his lower lip, when he turned to Keith's outburst. Shiro was silent for a long, gut-clenching moment as eyes scanned up and down the oversized t-shirt that came halfway down Keith's thighs, shirt collar too wide, exposing collarbone and sleeves he could swim in.

"This has never fit you in your life," Keith warned darkly.

Shiro smiled mischeviously around the bitten lip and ducked his head, failing to hide the chuckle, "It was a gag gift, years ago."

"And now the joke's on me," Keith crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow trying to chastise his friend, but a laugh was threatening to spill from his own lips.

"I couldn't resist," Shiro stepped forward, clapping Keith on the shoulder before guiding him back into the bedroom and towards the open closet. 

"Uh-huh."

"Sorry," He managed to look a little sheepish once they were both back in the room. "Let's find you some real options."

He took out a few shirts, throwing them to the pristinely-made bed, following them with some jeans and sweatpants selected after checking the tags. Keith watched from behind, picking up a couple of the shirts to examine familiar graphics from a lifetime ago while Shiro scoured his closet for smaller sizes. A few, he knew, were gifts from Adam and he quietly set them aside, unsure what to do with them. Shiro was handling the loss fairly well, but he didn't want to poke old wounds by wearing those shirts around him. At the same time, leaving the shirts with Shiro might dredge up old memories and sadness too. He wondered if Shiro had even realized what he was putting out, or if he was just looking at the size tags.

After a bit, he stopped, turning back to Keith and the pile of clothes, "Try those on, see if any of it works for you."

Keith started to strip off the oversized t-shirt, but paused at Shiro's suddenly stricken look. _Had he realized how many things from Adam he'd put on the pile? It made sense that much of his smaller clothing would be from early on in that relationship. Was he regretting offering them up, or just gut-punched to look at them again in general?_

"I'll, uh," He stuttered. "I'll wait in the den."

And with that, he hustled himself out of the bedroom, pulling the door to behind him, but not quite closing it.

Keith sighed, and took off the joke shirt, tossing it onto the pillows, out of the way of the fresh pile of clothing. That could be the reject pile. His heel worried at the too short pants leg again and he went after the jeans first.

* * *

 

It was longer than he wanted to admit later before he poked his head into the den, fingers worrying at the cuffs of the shirt he was wearing. He felt stupid, but he did actually really like this one.

"...Shiro?"

Shiro whirled around quickly from his position by the window, eyebrows hooked upward in concern, "Nothing fitting?"

"No um, yes," Keith fidgeted still peering from around the corner of the short hallway. "I mean, some of the jeans and t-shirts work just fine, but um. I'm having trouble with this shirt." His voice got small, "I might have messed it up."

"Oh?" Shiro took a tentative step forward, then squared his shoulders, crossing the room confidently as Keith stepped out into view. "Let's see what's going on."

Keith wore a pair of black jeans, they were a little too long, but otherwise seemed to fit, and a black tank top that fit so snuggly that he had difficulty believing it had ever fit Shiro. Over that he wore a purple button up shirt in a shade that made him think of the Black Lion, it fit well, but the cuffs hung loose and open, the buttons simply missing, and the same for the top few button holes of the front. It seemed to have doubled buttonholes as if it had never had buttons there, but he was certain that was wrong and he'd damaged the shirt somehow.

He raised the loose cuffs for Shiro's inspection, "I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong."

Shiro smiled warmly at Keith, then at the shirt cuffs, stepping in closer than was strictly necessary as he tugged the cuff of one arm up and towards him, pressing the edges together, "It's a formal shirt, you need cufflinks and button studs. I should have some to match this one."

With that, Shiro turned and tugged gently on the shirt, directing Keith to follow him back to the bedroom, "I didn't realize. I don't need-- I shouldn't--"

Shiro arched an eyebrow at him as he released the shirt and reached for a drawer by the closet, "Do you like the shirt?"

"Yes, but--"

"It fits you, and it looks good. I want you to have it, Keith." Shiro turned back to him, holding a long flat jewelry box in one hand. "If you really don't want it, that's fine, but every man should know how to wear cufflinks. I'd be happy if you let me show you."

Keith swallowed hard, "Okay."

He felt his face heat up as Shiro stepped in close again, producing an odd little tack decorated with silver moon and star shapes, face inches from Keith's hand as he tugged the cuff into alignment again, "Now watch carefully, this can be a bit fiddly."

Keith leaned in closer, hoping Shiro didn't notice his blush and watched as Shiro flipped the back into a straight line, threaded it through the two button holes, and then flipped it back into a t-shape, twisting the part again once the stopper was there to keep the sides together.

"You want to tighten it there, so it doesn't come loose while you're wearing it." He held up a second, identical bit of metal. "Now you try with the other arm."

Keith looked up into Shiro's eyes for a too long moment, it felt intimate, and they were definitely standing closer than was needed for this, but he refused to be the one to break the moment. _He'd always let it be Shiro. Shiro's choice to back off. He'd been through so much, lost so much, and had so many choices taken from him for so long, Keith wouldn't be the one to step away from him. To make a choice for him. To let him feel abandoned or rejected. **Ever.**_

He felt his eyelashes brush his cheeks as he concentrated on the tiny hinge of the cufflink, working it through the fabric and open again, flicking his eyes up again only once it was in place, silently asking for approval.

"Looks good," Shiro's voice was a low whisper, and Keith had to fight the instinct to shiver in response.

"So this is something family normally does, huh? Helping with cufflinks?"

"Yeah," Shiro agrees. "Family, and Partners."

_There was a capital letter in the way Shiro put emphasis on the word 'Partners'. Keith wondered if he was just exaggerating it in his head._

"Like us," Keith smiles, reminding himself this is just friendship. shoving the spark of feeling down.  _Shiro is his everything. Like family. Like brothers. Right. Just brothers. That's all it could be._  "It never came up before. Cuff links."

"Guess that means I'm the first one to get to see you all dressed up." He chuckled, "Lucky me."

Keith did blush at that, laughing nervously, "Yeah. Rare event. Just for you."

"Hmmm."

Keith was at a loss for what to do next. They were standing so close, the cufflinks were on, but Shiro wasn't moving away, "You mentioned button studs?"

"Mmm hmm. Want me to show you how to wear those too?"

Keith's throat felt dry, "Uh, yeah. Sure."

Everything seemed to happen suddenly but simultaneously in slow motion as Shiro's fingers brushed against the open shirt high on his chest, pushing a small decorative device that matched the cuff links behind the shirt and then through the empty button holes, making the silver star engraved button appear against the purple shirt, holding it closed.

"Got it?"

"Yeah."

Shiro's eyes were locked onto his, "Want to do the other two?"

"Um, no. I'm good." _His heart couldn't take more of this,_ "I mean, I think it's okay. Just wanted to make sure the shirt fits, right?"

"True enough." Shiro's smile slipped, and he took a step backwards, giving Keith space. "So you'll accept it?"

"Yeah," Keith ran a hand through his hair. "If you really don't mind."

"Of course I don't. I offered." Shiro walked over to the pile of clothes on the bed increasing the distance between them back to what was normal, "So, since I didn't get to see you try any of this on, what else is a keeper?"

Keith took a couple of deep, centering breaths and walked over to join him, pulling pieces off the 'keep' pile to show Shiro. _There wasn't much, most of Shiro's clothes were still just too big enough on him to look like he was wearing a boyfriend's oversized clothes, and he didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea._ He paused at an Adam shirt, "Let me know if any of this isn't okay."

"It's fine, Keith." He still looked a little upset compared to earlier as he turned away, returning to his closet, "You're going to need a light jacket."

"I can just wear one of the uniform jackets for that. You don't have to give me so much stuff."

"I want to," Shiro pushed a few things aside roughly, reaching farther back into the closet. "It's not like many of my old jackets fit me with the new prosthetic. I either have to get them tailored to accommodate, or throw them out."

_That was a sad thought. There was one jacket in particular from before..._

"Besides, half the point of having casual clothes is so maybe you can go out without being recognized as the leader of Voltron." Shiro turned back, a pair of leather jackets on hangers held in each hand. "I know it's not red, but maybe one of these will work?"

Keith laughed, distracted from his own self-imposed tension, "How did you end up with that many leather jackets?"

Shiro's responding grin was embarrassed, "I thought they made me look cool."

"You never needed the help," Keith stepped forward, taking the jackets from Shiro to hang them along the end of the bed. He froze abruptly at the last one. Black and grey leather in an asymmetrical pattern he'd never seen anywhere else. He hadn't expected it to be in the ones Shiro was willing to part with.  _I guess it means more to me than it does to Shiro._ He heard the wonder in his own voice as he paused with fingers brushing the leather, "I can have this one?"

He turned back to see that indulgent smile returning to Shiro's face, "That one? Hmm. Its a bit out of fashion."

Keith responded defensively, "I have a lot of good memories of this jacket."

"You remember it?"

"You don't? You used to wear it when we raced hoverbikes in the desert. I was a little in love," Keith coughed at the slip. "With the entire look."

"I remember." Shiro arched an eyebrow, "Let's see how it fits."

Keith was careful removing the jacket from it's hanger and pulling it on over the too fancy shirt that was still partially unbuttoned. They probably looked a bit silly together. Or like something from an absurd designer's idea of a punk fashion spread. The clothing at least, not him. He fiddled with the zipper a bit before turning back to Shiro for a verdict. "Well?"

Shiro looked him up and down carefully, raising his arm to lean against the wall as he took in the outfit. "Hmm, I think I'm a little in love," Keith's heart started hammering a million miles a minute, even though he knew Shiro was just teasing, throwing his own words back at him. "With the--"

As Shiro's elbow approached the wall, forearm lifted as if to shield his vision from the sun he suddenly stumbled, pitching towards the wall, the elbow that previously would have been there to support him not present in his newest Altean-powered, floating prosthetic. Keith rushed forward, catching him before he could do much more than bounce off the surface with his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Shiro's entire face was bright red, hair mussed from the aborted fall, eyes wide, and heart beating fast.

"Well, that was smooth," He muttered.

"Shiro?"

"Yeah, just bruised my pride a bit." He chuckled, leaning into Keith's hold a bit, "Serves me right for trying to be cool and flirt, I guess."

It was Keith's turn to turn bright red, "Flirt?!"

"I'm pretty terrible at it," Shiro righted himself and took a step backwards, patting Keith's shoulder. "I guess I thought that maybe after what you said before in the space station... Well, don't worry about it. The jacket looks good on you. You should take it."

"You were. Flirting."

"Uh. Yeah."

Keith stared at him. Gobsmacked.  _Critical system error. Keith.exe has stopped functioning._

"Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I obviously had the wrong idea, and I don't want to hurt our friendship. You mean the world to me. Being attracted to you is just a small part of that. I won't mention it again."

 _Shiro was attracted to him. Impossible._ "What were you going to say before you stumbled?"

"Uh."

"Shiro."

Shiro managed to blush deeper, the red extending to his ears as he rushed through the words, "I'mALittleInLoveWithTheWayYouLookInMyClothes. Listen, I--"

"I love you," Keith's hands fisted in Shiro's shirt, pulling him down into a kiss. It was awkward, teeth clacking together and noses bumping in it's abruptness.

Shiro wrapped his arms around Keith's waist and pulled him closer, tilting his head to make the kiss more comfortable as he slipped his eyes closed and just, let himself enjoy the moment.

Too soon, Keith was pulling back from the kiss, not releasing his hold on Shiro's shirt as their breath mingled, "Still have the wrong idea?"

Shiro tightened his hold on Keith, "I'm not sure. I might need you to clarify a little more."

Keith huffed out a laugh, "I don't know how to be more obvious."

"I love you too," Shiro pressed another kiss to his lips. Light and quick. "Sorry it took me so long to say it back."

"I thought you didn't remember." Keith ducked his head, pressing his forehead against Shiro's collarbone, "Or you did, and were trying to spare my feelings."

"It took me a while to sort out the memories, and I wasn't sure if it was too late. Flirting seemed like the best way to test the waters."

Keith huffed, "And how long have you been flirting?"

Longer than I want to admit," Shiro chuckled, cheeks red as he tilted Keith's chin up for another kiss. "I'll only get worse from here on in."

"Try me."

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this because of some of my own musings on twitter, but I worked in one bit because hilarious tweet by @b3autifuI https://twitter.com/b3autifuI/status/1031363813705179141 : "shiro goes to put his elbow on something and leans on it but he doesn't fucking have an elbow anymore so he just falls"
> 
> And there's been completely unrelated fanart that fits the story.  
> \- https://twitter.com/ririnkas/status/1055533340504150016


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